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Friday, July 6, 2012

Draw Me A Star activities {Eric Carle}

you may have already noticed that i'm a fan of of literature-based activities. we usually have about 50 books from the library checked out in our house at a time. i'm horrible at preplanning... to be honest, i usually wing it because with this site and other household things i don't have additional time to create lesson plans.

i give Bear a chance to choose a book that he'd like to work with that day. that way i know that he will be interested in it and it will give him some "buy-in" to what we're doing.

we've been really into Eric Carle books lately.one of our latest favorite books is Draw Me a Star
by Eric Carle. aside from the gorgeous imagery that is typical of Eric Carle, i love the way the text and images intertwine and have an alternate meaning for Bear and i. after we read it the first time, we noticed a strong parallel between what the artist was drawing and the Creation Story. in a way, the artist in the book could portray God and the way that he "drew" our world.

right now, Bear is learning how to write his numbers. as a precursor to this activity, i got out number cards. after he identified the number, he practice one-to-one correspondence to put the appropriate number of star sequins on the number card. (you could use star-shaped erasers, buttons, etc). then he flipped it over and wrote the number on the back of the card.

moving onto the art project. first i have to provide a disclaimer...this project is a little more directed than i usually do. sometimes i think that it's good to give Bear practice in following directions. he did have freedom, during this project. and as per sooooo many of our posts show, he has ample amount of free will when it comes to art. {our paints are out and accessible at all times}

7 comments:

I looooove Eric Carle too! I think we might try some of your ideas! My girls would love it! Hey..I wanted to let you know that I'd love to do a guest post ~ maybe swap guest posts?, like you suggested. I'm a big fan of your blog and used to read it often even before I had my own so it would be such an honor!

Isn't it amazing how you can find a parallel to God in pretty much everything? The curriculum we are using is nature based with a focus on things God created. It has made me look at my own world differently. I'm right there with you on the freedom, yet needing to know how to follow directions. I'm always trying to find that balance. I especially have to keep the boys' ages in mind. What I expect of the oldest I can't expect of my three year old. Okay, now I'm rambling as I tend to do. ;)